Family Cultivation: My entire family are Villains

The other's cultivation...

"May I ask your esteemed name, and what brings you here, senior?"

Hou Yuxiao's expression darkened. As he inquired, he sank his mind and spirit into the Divine Lotus within his Sea of Consciousness, which comforted him slightly.

"Eh, not afraid of me anymore... It seems you have something to rely on?"

The man apparently noticed the change in Hou Yuxiao's emotions. He turned around, and just as Hou Yuxiao had guessed, he was indeed a middle-aged man with a square face and thick eyebrows, only there was a huge scar extending from the corner of his right eye to the side of his mouth on that square face.

This man, already clad in armor, exuded a strong murderous aura. Together with that scar, he appeared even more fierce, which intensified the oppressive feeling he gave off, especially now, with a pair of sharp eyes staring directly at him that made Hou Yuxiao's mood even tenser.

"Initially, you intended to use Qingxue to take revenge on the Zhao Clan of Qinjian Villa, but then you accidentally fell victim to Gu Chenfeng's Life and Death Entwining Love Gu, which caused you to feel guilty towards Qingxue. You were intent on ignoring this;

then, when the Wuwei King attacked Xuzhou and the Ziqing Holy Sect got involved, you accidentally saved her from Hou Zhan in the dilapidated temple outside Yunmeng County City, and once again entertained the idea of using her. Just as the Rakshasa Holy Sect retreated from Xiayuan, the Hou Clan lost its backing, so you seized the opportunity to consider joining the Ziqing Holy Sect, with Qingxue as the intermediary.

At the battle of Longxiang Ferry, your Hou Clan angered the Leiyin Temple and formed the Hexi Alliance, yet felt it wasn't enough. You then sought to further strengthen ties with the Ziqing Holy Sect and incidentally wanted to tie Tongtian Prefecture, Wuwei King, and the Ziqing Holy Sect all to your Hexi Alliance boat. You thus made this affair widely known, promising so much in Lingyuan Governor's City primarily to let others see your regard for Qingxue, making those with ulterior motives even more eager to act. If I am not wrong, once you arrive in Hexi, the people from Leiyin Temple should make their move, right? Am I correct?"

......

Hou Yuxiao's expression had completely stiffened at this point.

He was desperately trying to remain composed, but the shock in his heart was uncontrollable. The man before him not only had a clear understanding of everything he had done but even grasped his changing feelings towards Zhao Qingxue over the years. How could this be possible?

Could it be that this middle-aged man had been monitoring him all along?

Hou Yuxiao soon dismissed this thought. He forcibly calmed his turbulent emotions and, after sorting out his thoughts, quickly realized that the focus of the middle-aged man's words was not him, but Zhao Qingxue.

Even his earlier address was "Qingxue."

If he wasn't Zhao Qingxue's father, he was at least an elder.

In that case, this man must be from the Zhao Clan!

As this guess emerged in Hou Yuxiao's mind, his expression turned incredibly grim, with his heart growing even tenser rather than relaxing.

"I am not a member of the Zhao Clan. Just like you, I loathe the Zhao Clan to the bone!"

This middle-aged man seemed to have the ability to see through another's thoughts; as soon as Hou Yuxiao's worry surfaced, it was immediately dispelled by him. In just a short moment, his emotions had fluctuated wildly, rising and falling several times, and his back was already drenched in sweat.

The middle-aged man stared at Hou Yuxiao for more than a dozen breaths, his face expressionless, not revealing what he was thinking, until he made Hou Yuxiao's heart feel uneasy. Then he slowly spoke:

"You are not a bad person, so I feel at ease entrusting Qingxue to you."

...

Hou Yuxiao was stunned. Given that the middle-aged man had a thorough understanding of both his mentality towards Zhao Qingxue and the intent of this alliance, Hou Yuxiao thought that at the very least, the man would scold him or offer some warning.

You are not a bad person!

Hou Yuxiao, who hadn't heard such words in a long time, felt slightly dazed. To this day, his definitions of good and evil had become very blurred, or rather, good and evil had become mere tools for him, devoid of any inherent meaning.

Especially due to the influence of merit and karmic obstacle values, he could even flexibly switch between these two modes of action. Whether he was a good person or a bad person, he himself wasn't sure.

"Looking at the rise of the Hou Clan, you seem very skilled at balancing on both ends, seeking survival for the Hou Clan, enticing the Leiyin Temple to step in and disrupt this alliance, pressuring the Ziqing Holy Sect, Wuwei King, and Tongtian Prefecture, using stratagem within a greater strategy, your idea is bold yet indeed brilliant and feasible. The problem is..."

He paused for a moment, looked at Hou Yuxiao with a cold smile, and continued:

"Tongtian Prefecture and the Wuwei King are manageable, but what makes you think that the Ziqing Holy Sect and Leiyin Temple, one a Holy Land and the other a Quasi-Holy Land, would be led by the nose by you? Do your Hou Clan, your Hexi Alliance, possess that strength, that influence?

Or do you believe that your planning is flawless, that no one can see through it, and that everyone will fall into your trap as planned, and Hexi will subsequently be worry-free?"

The expression on Hou Yuxiao's face became increasingly unattractive under the middle-aged man's interrogations, fluctuating uncertainly as he constantly revisited the schemes he and Old Fifth had planned in Hexi, trying to find any mistakes.

What could he have overlooked?

He and Hou Yuduan had almost considered everything.

Impossible, there could be no mistakes.

"Senior..."

Hou Yuxiao was about to speak when he looked up to find that the chair was now empty; the middle-aged man had already disappeared from his room.